Martin leads Kings past winless Timberwolves

SACRAMENTO, California (Ticker) -- Kevin Martin scored 29 points
and Beno Udrih played well in his first game of the season as the
Sacramento Kings held off the Minnesota Timberwolves, 100-93, on
Saturday.

John Salmons scored 19 points and Brad Miller added 12 and 16
rebounds for the Kings, who won for the first time in three
tries at home this season.

Both teams were playing the second of back-to-back nights and it
showed with ragged play from the opening tip. After a first
half that generated just 81 points, the teams heated up in the
third period, combining for 65 points for a 73-73 tie. But in
the final stanza, play reverted back to the sloppy performance
and poor shooting that was prevalent in the first half.

"Both teams were tired," said Kings coach Reggie Theus. "Both
teams played real hard games last night. But we have to win our
home games, the games we're supposed to win. I thought this was
a must win for us."

Minnesota made just one shot from the floor in the first 11
minutes of the fourth but stayed around by making 15-of-16 free
throws. The Wolves actually took a 89-88 lead after two free
throws by Corey Brewer with 4:13 left, but Martin followed with
a jumper and two free throws to give the Kings a 92-89 lead with
two minutes remaining.

Minnesota drew within 94-93 on a 3-pointer by Rashad McCants
with one minute to go, but Udrih, who signed as a free agent
this offseason after playing for the San Antonio Spurs, hit a
jumper from the right of the free-throw line with 48 ticks left.
After a defensive stop, Miller tipped in a miss by Udrih with
10 seconds left for a 98-93 edge.

"Obviously it had a lot to do with (Udrih's) penetration,"
Miller said of the key basket. "I set the pick, (he drew) the
attention after he made the shot before. I just got a play off
of it. He makes a lot of smart plays out there."

"(Sacramento) made the plays at the end that we couldn't," said
Minnesota coach Randy Wittman. "The ball simply bounced their
way tonight. It seems like it has happened a lot to us lately.
Through all of these games, it has been about the little things
that are not getting done."

Udrih, who was out with a finger injury, had nine points, five
rebounds and two assists in 26 minutes.

"I just wanted to go out there and play my game," Udrih said. "I
didn't think I'd play that much but at the beginning of the
game I felt great. I told coach I'm ready if he needs me. He
put me in the game, I didn't even look at the bench. I like
tight games."

Sacramento made all 12 free throws in the fourth quarter.
Martin, who missed five consecutive free throws, made his last
11.

"It was one of those nights," Martin said. "The first half was a
little funk. But teammates kept confidence in me and kept
giving me the ball."

"(Udrih) was big. He's a floor leader, that's what we were
missing off our team. I don't know if we could have pulled that
one out without him."

Al Jefferson had 17 points and 12 rebounds and McCants added 16
for Minnesota, which fell to 0-5 on the campaign and has lost 12
straight dating to last season.

"We stayed in the game. That's about the only thing we did good
tonight," McCants said. "We have a problem with finishing.
Competing isn't our problem."

Quincy Douby scored all eight of his first-half points in the
opening minutes of the second quarter to put the Kings up 24-19.

Jefferson returned the favor, scoring eight in less than three
minutes to give the T-Wolves a 35-29 advantage before Sacramento
used a 13-0 run to re-take the lead. The Kings led 42-39 at
the half despite shooting just 43 percent.

"We've got to rebound," said Brewer, who scored 15 points and
grabbed five rebounds in his best game as a pro. "We had a
chance again to win and they got four straight offensive
rebounds (late). After that it was like the air was let out of
us."